DCIS treatments

Hi @Blister, in answer to your original question, having a mastectomy definitely isn't overkill in my opinion.  I too had DCIS in my right breast and had a lumpectomy but the surgeon could not get clear margins and so I had another lumpectomy. Pathology showed that the breast was full of micro DCIS, difficult to find and so the best option for me was a mastectomy to ensure that all of the diseased breast was gone and I could stop worrying about the possibility of it spreading around further.  What was a difficult decision was whether to have my left breast removed at the same time, i.e. a prophylactic mastectomy.  I opted to have both breasts removed as I wanted to keep the cancer risk as low as possible for the future.  As it happens, pathology showed lobular cancer in my left breast, the prophylactic one, which had not been picked up on any scans so I'm glad I had the bilateral mastectomy! I'm lucky it was picked up early and no lymph nodes removed or radiation or chemo. Whilst the mastectomy and reconstruction with tissues expanders at the moment is not a walk in the park, it is better than cancer which has spread.  However, others may choose to have more conservative treatment and keep their breasts or have a mastectomy and go flat because everyone is on their own personal journey.  I'm 56 in a month and didn't hesitate to have the boobs rebuilt and agree with @FLClover that for some people, if it is possible, having your breasts reconstructed is healing no matter what age you are, but for others it's not important.  Good luck with everything  <3 x

Depends on your treatment - Letrozole encourages bone thinning which is why I have regular checks of bone density, not for bone cancer. 

@Afraser I haven’t had a bone scan yet ever, not sure how old you have to be to qualify, but yes you would think you have cancer you need regular checks.  

It doesn’t make any difference with bone scans as far as I am aware. You can only have a free one every five years - you would have thought regular scans for anyone at risk so there was at least some chance of avoiding osteoporosis would make sense. You can have them yearly but have to pay, which probably puts some people off doing it. 

@Zoffiel is that because I’ve gone the Private route and not the Public route for my treatment?

Yep. And you want to hope no-one thinks a PET is a good idea or you can double that. MRI can be bulk billed until you are diagnosed, then you pay. Bone scans cost too, unless you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. Go figure.

Well my specialist asked me to have an MRI before she would go ahead with more surgery, but what’s shocked me more than anything is that it isn’t covered by Medicare, I had to pay $525.00 has anyone had to do this, must admit I was stunned 😳😳😳

I agree that going flat is perfectly fine, and you would still feel very feminine and be beautiful. Women don’t need breasts to be feminine and beautiful and self confident. And people definitely wouldn’t stare or notice. Even if they did, stuff them. But they wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be that noticeable. 

@BlackWidow yes agreed I am one of the lucky ones

@Blister.  I think if we have been diagnosed with DCIS we are by far the 'luckier' group of ladies as the rotten sod did not venture too far around our body and a mastectomy, whilst not the prettiest, does mean that they can quickly get the blighter off and away.  Like @Fraser I have only one boob and as droopy as she is I have no set plans to go through more surgery to have a matching set as she'd also need a nip and tuck.  I prefer to count my blessings and get on with my life.  No-one seems to notice even when I am braless and throughout a recent long stay in the sunnier climate of Qld I just seemed to be one of a crowd.  I agree with the comment by @Zoffiel that unless you want to have them on display then just go with what feels right for you.  Good luck with your decisions and surgery.